Dan Auerbach records 'Murder Ballads' soundtrack

Dan Auerbach has contributed to film and television soundtracks before, but it wasn't until recently that he got to record a soundtrack for a book.

Gabe Soria's gritty graphic novel "Murder Ballads" tells the story of Nate Theodore, a desperate owner of a failing record label who comes across blues duo Donny and Marvell Fontweathers in a juke joint and is convinced they can turn his luck around.

Music plays an integral role in the story, so Soria enlisted his longtime friend Auerbach to compose and record an accompanying soundtrack, giving him "outlines and ideas for what I wanted, or what emotional beats to hit," and letting Auerbach take it from there.

"(Traditional song) 'In the Pines' plays in a scene, so we did a version of that. ... Gabe needed a soul instrumental so I called my buddies the Memphis Boys, who worked at American Sound Studios for Chips Moman, and we cut an instrumental," Auerbach elaborated. "It was almost like I got to work with some of the people who would’ve been making the music referenced in the story."

Another friend pointed Auerbach toward the bluesy, soulful musician Robert Finley, who released his debut album last year at the age of 63. The two men recorded "In the Pines" and four original Fontweathers Brothers songs at Auerbach's Nashville studio.

"It was love at first sight," Auerbach said with a laugh when he remembered meeting Finley. "He's one of the greatest living soul singers. ... I knew we were going to (record) more than 'Murder Ballads.' "

The feeling was mutual: Finley recorded a new album for release on Auerbach's label Easy Eye Sound in the fall.

Like a vinyl record, Soria's graphic novel is divided into A and B sides, with different artists providing the art for each side. “A lot of records are carefully sequenced for that Side A and Side B break,” he said in an email. “They’re sonically and emotionally arranged to acknowledge that physical action of turning the record over, so doing that … is a nifty method to divide the book into two thematic sections. The A-side of the book, the first half, is the build-up, and the flipside, the B-side of the book, is when everything turns and becomes even messier and more hectic.”

"Murder Ballads" will be released July 26. Copies of the book will come with a download code for Auerbach and Finley's soundtrack. A limited-edition box set that includes the soundtrack on colored vinyl also will be available.